Mortals Read the Last Olympian
by ProngsletPotter
Summary: What would happen if the mist dissapeard? Paul finds a book on his desk, with a note telling him to read this book with Percy's english class. And the book's name? Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.
1. The Discovery

**This is an AU that takes place after 'The Last Olympian'. 'The Heroes of Olympus' series don't happen. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights go to Rick Riordan  
**

_**Prologue: The discovery**_

I was late at school as usual. It wasn't my fault, it was the curse of Achilles that made me sleep like a rock. I'd woken up to late and Paul had already left for school as he was a teacher there he were expected to be there early. So I had ran to the bus stop only to see the back of the yellow bus in distance.

I ran through the corridors of Goode High School. The start of the term had been last week and a few banners were still hanging on the walls and on them was something written in a cursive yellow script which were murder for my dyslexic eyes.

The halls were empty of students, only a few late runners like me were seen hurrying towards their homeroom classroom. Some of them looked at me, then looked away when they saw me looking back. I fully understood them, I were the school freak and no one wanted to be seen talking with me.

Soon I reached my homeroom which I fortunately had with Paul. I opened the door and the class looked up to see who it was. Some of them snickered when they saw my tangled hair and untied shoes. I gave Paul a quick 'Sorry I'm late' and got a stern stare back.

"Just don't be late again mr Jackson" he said and gestured toward an empty chair in the back of the classroom and I hurried there and sat down. The rest of the class was still snickering and I could see some people passing noes to each other.

Paul cleared his throat and the whispering stopped, he was a well-liked teacher and most of the student body didn't want to make him mad. He held up a book he was holding so the class could see it better.

"Today we are going to take a closer look on what happened under the second Titan War" he said and the class leaned forward. I probably should explain this, which is that the mortals now know about the gods. Just before Kronos took his last breath and I sent him back to Tartarus he pulled one last trick. It wasn't a little trick he pulled either. No, Kronos decided that a good punishment to make it known for the mortals that we exist. I think he thought that the mortals would put us in labs and make experiments with us, but that didn't happen.

Sure, there were people who had wanted to do that but the majority just went on with their lives like they were before, except that they were a little more careful about what they said. In the beginning nobody had believed in it, but soon the news were all over the worlds and religions were questioned. And us demigods? We continued doing what we're doing and at the same time trying to keep hidden. And even though we now would be reading about what happened during the war I highly doubted that it would mention any names of the demigods that participated. I didn't plan to reveal my secret to anyone in this room.

"The book we are going to read for the next few months is one of the most accurate things you will hear about this war" Paul continued. "As you all know it was the demigods who were fighting, do anyone know what a demigod is?" he asked. The majority of the class put their hands up, it was me and a few more who didn't. Paul pointed at a girl in the front row.

"A demigod is the child of a god/ or goddess and a mortal" she answered.

"That's right. And as you know the gods sired a lot of demigods through the years, can someone mention a famous demigod?"

"Achilles and Orion" a boy called looking up at Paul waiting for confirmation. Paul nodded and the boy proudly sat back in the chair leaning against the tabletop.

"Yes," he said. "Those two were definitely two of the most famous ancient demigods. But this book is about the demigods of this century, as most demigods from that time are dead since long, if they were not named immortal".

I was starting to get suspicious, was this book about some of his friends? I wondered. And who would have written it, it had to be either a demigod or someone from the immortal side of the family. And if this book were about someone from camp, it was a big chance I would get mentioned. Paul was looking at me and I gave him a small glare, Why would he have to do this? He gave me a small shrug back as if he wanted to say 'I'm sorry'. It went unnoticed by the rest of the students.

"The book is about the biggest demigod, many say he's even greater than Hercules, who is counted to be the best demigod through all times" he said and I looked down angrily. Hercules was a jerk, not at all like the Disney version. Then his other words hit me, I'd heard people say I was better than him, but in my opinion almost every demigod could surpass Hercules which calmed my nerves a little. There was no way Paul would read a book about me in class. I wasn't the greatest demigod, Annabeth was much better than me. The thought of Annabeth brought a small grin to my lips.

"As you know, demigods are just like normal people, just that they are children of deities, and a demigod can be found in many schools, just don't telling people about their identity" Paul said. My hopes were silently getting crushed as I understood where tis were going. People stared at Paul in shock.

"Why would a demigod need to go to school?" someone asked.

"As I said, they are just normal people who are going to get normal jobs someday" Paul said. "But what I wanted to say was actually that we all know the demigod this book is about, and he is actually sitting in this room", I stared at Paul in shock as I sank lower down in my chair. People were looking at Paul unbelievingly. They looked around, trying to figure out who it was and sending suspicious glances toward their friends as if saying, 'If it's you I don't know what I will do'.

"Who, and how would you know this?" a brave girl I had a faint memory saying that she was named Hannah asked. She quickly looked down hiding her blush behind her light brown hair when Paul looked at her.

"Well the fact that he told me, and showed his powers certainly made me believe him he said.

"But who is it then?" another girl, Olivia, who sat next to Hanna asked.

Paul turned around to look at me and slowly the whole class followed him with their eyes and when they saw it me he was looking at they turned against him unbelievingly.

"You're not serious! It can't be Percy freaking Jackson" Hayden, one of the jocks exclaimed. I sighted.

"It's true" I said before Paul could say something else. "I'm a demigod". A few students laughed while some looked like they couldn't make up their mind on whether to believe me or not.

"Prove it then" Hayden said, smirking sure that he now could uncover my 'lie'. I just shrugged and made the water from someone's water bottle shoot up in the air and hoover over us. I formed the water to the shape of a trident then a horse which galloped around the room before I dosed the water over Hayden. He spluttered and glared at me while the rest of class were in some kind of shock.

"So you're the son of...?" Alyssa, the girl who answered the question about demigods asked.

"I'm a son of Poseidon" I said simply. The class just stared at me.

"Is he serious?" Ludvig, a boy who had started this year when his family moved here from Sweden asked Paul. He nodded.

"Yes, Percy just told me a year/ half year ago. I, too had some trouble believing it first too but after a week you get used to the thought" Paul said making my classmates stare at him, they were probably thinking that me being a demigod would never get normal, which it probably wouldn't for them. Paul ignored the stares.

"Well, let's get started, we really have been talking too much of this lesson" he said. "I'm going to read loud, and you can stop if you have any question". Paul started reading the first word when a hand shot up in the air.

"Yes Alyssa?" Paul asked and arched his eyebrows.

"What is the name of the book?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that" Paul said and smiled at her. "The name of this book, which is actually the last one in a series, is called Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian".

_**Edited 22/07 2014**_


	2. I go cruising with explosives

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights goes to Rick Riordan**

_**Chapter 1: I go cruising with explosives**_

**"The Last Olympian" **Paul begun. I looked down on the table before me. I could feel everybodys eyes burning holes in my skull. They still couldn't understand how I could be a demigod, to them I still was the loner, Percy Jackson, not a hero who had saved the world.  
** "The end of the world started when a Pegasus landed on the hood of my car."** Everybody stared at me with their eyebrows arched.  
"Seriously?" a cheerleader named Whitney asked me while looking at her pink nails.  
"Why wouldn't I be serious?" I asked her. She looked away.  
** "Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't be sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.  
** "You let him borrow your car, even though he's not 16 yet?" Whitney asked.  
"Yes" Paul said, a bluch creeping up is neck. Teachers were supposed to set an example for his students.  
"I wish my dad would do that" someone mumbled and the rest of the class nodded.  
** "Now, I know you're thinking, Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah, but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done."  
**The class looked at Paul. He just shrugged and kept reading.  
** "Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot august day. Rachels red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas".  
** "Ohh, someone has a crush" some jock teased. I could feel my cheeks warm up.  
"Says the person who has a new girlfriend every week" I said and glared at him.  
** "Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.  
We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice - glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us".  
**All the girls cooed.  
**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.  
** "No shit" Hayden said. I just rolled my eyes and ignored him, I could hear him huff from behind me.  
** "So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."  
** "What invitation?" Whitney asked.  
"You'll hear if you let Pa... Mr Blofis read" I said irritated. She frowned and glared at me.  
** "Oh . . . right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.  
**Some people stared at me.  
"Why would you not want to go to Caribbean?" the know-it-all Alyssa asked me.  
"Well, for the first: I can't fly. Zeus would killed me if I ever were close to a plane. And for the second, we were in middle of a war, it was not as I could just leave.  
"I would go anyway" Someone said. Paul cleared his throat and continued reading.  
**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.  
** "Go then! I mean, did you really want to fight in a war?" someone asked. I sighted.  
"If i'd gone with her on that vaccation Kronos would won the war." Someone snorted.  
"Like it was you who defeated him, I'm sure they would done it without you" Hayden said. I looked down on my knees, not looking at anyone. Their eyes grew as they looked at me. Paul took that as the sign to start reading again.  
**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.  
** "How did you know it would happen on your birthday?" Alyssa asked.  
"Keep reading mr Blofis" I said, just hoping we would be done with it. She glared at me and turned away. I could hear a few muffeld snickers coming from Alyssa's friends Hannah and Olivia.  
** "Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's always bad for you, right?"  
**Someone, I think it was Whitney, snorted.  
**She had a point.  
**Everyone looked at me with an arched eybrow.  
"What" I snapped and they looked away.  
"Touchy" Hayden shout-wispered and his friends laughed.  
** "I really want to go," I promised. "It's just - "  
**Everything just hates me right now!" Hayden said in a whiney voice trying to mimic me. I glared at him.  
** "The war."  
I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist - the magic veil that distorts human vision.  
** "Rachel could see through the mist?" Alyssa asked me shocked. I nodded and everyone gaped.  
"We can se through it now, everyone can!" Hayden said. I opened my mouth but Alyssa was faster.  
"Actually, we can't. The mist dissapeared, that's why we can see all the monsters".  
**She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.  
**Everyone was shell shocked. Their jaws almost hit the floor.  
"She did what" Whitney shrieked, her usuallt tan face pale.  
"Wow, she has my respect now" one of my few friends at school, Mike said.  
"She has everyone's respect" someone piped up. Everyone nodded.  
**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad . . ." Her voice faltered.  
** "Isn't her dad like one of the richest persons in the world or something like that?". I ignored the question and gestured to Paul to continue reading.  
** "Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.  
Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."  
** "What! why woldn't she want to go there. I would do anything to go there!" Whitney almost screamed and all the cheerleaders nodded.  
"Well, Rachel is just Rachel. She doesn't like schools like that" I said.  
** "The school where your mom went?"  
** "Ofcourse her mum went there to" a cheerleader, Jessica muttered.  
** "It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"  
** "Stupid!?" Whitney shrieked.  
**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb.  
**Every cheerleader glared at me.  
"What?!"  
**Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.  
** "It actually would be pretty hard to picture her in a school like that" Mike said. I smiled at him.  
**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."  
** "I know that feeling" Alyssa said.  
** "Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"  
"Yes . . . but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk - " She stopped abruptly.  
** "She need to go to Caribbean to talk to you about it?" Hayden asked, for once not sounding sarcastic. I shrugged.  
** "Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean . . . so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"  
**Some people sniggered.  
"Oh no, I think like Percy freaking Jackson" Hayden groaned cauding the whole class erupting in laughter.  
**She pursed her lips.  
"Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."  
** "Like you could be normal" Hayden said, back to his normal state as a jock.  
"I'm a demigod. Demigods don't do normal things."  
**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.  
** "Well, you definitely have a cruch on her" some joch teased.  
"I have a girlfriend!."  
"Yeah right!."  
**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room.  
**The girls cooed and i just rolled my eyes.  
**I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.  
** "Is it really like that?" someone asked.  
"Well, yes it is. But us demigods always win in the end anyways."  
** "Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."  
She nodded.  
"And so . . . hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"  
** "Rachel and Percy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Hayden said in a sing-song voice. I glared at him and he shrunk back in his chair.  
** "Oh . . ." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows - slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um . . ."  
** "Awkward" Mike said.  
**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than . . . well, than some other girls I knew.  
**I glared at everyone, daring them to say anything. Nobody opened their mouth. I smirked.  
**I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.  
** "That's good, let him know how you feel" Whitney said.  
"Um, Whitney... Your talking to a book" I said.  
"Oh" she said, blushing.  
**I'm not sure what I would have done next - but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!  
** "What was that" Someone asked.  
"You'll see" I said smirking.  
**Hey, boss, a voice said in my head. Nice car!  
** "Who's that?!" Alyssa asked, not liking that she didn't knew something. She would make a perfect Athena child, well if you didn't counted that she didn't look like a Athena child at all. All Athena children were blonde and had grey eyes while Alyssa had brown hair and brown eyes, she looked more like a Hephaestus child if i would be honest.  
"Well, if everyone stop enterupting, you would already know" I said. Everyone shut up.  
**Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood; but I didn't think my stepdad would be real stoked.  
**Everone started talking at the same time.  
"You can talk to horses!."  
"Pegasus exists?"  
"The pegasus talked?!"  
"Class, calm down!" Paul shouted. The room became quiet.  
"Thank you!"  
"So, do you talk to horses?" Mike asked.  
"Yes, my dad is the father of horses, therefor i can understand them".  
"Oh."  
** "Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you - "  
Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.  
" 'Sup, Percy."  
Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies.  
**I looked down, sad. Why did they need to hear this? Paul, who knew what happened continued reading, knowing that I didn't want questions.  
**He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush.  
** "That was him? I read about that explosion in the newspaper!" Alyssa said, happy to finally have an explanation of the weird explosion. I just nodded.  
**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**  
"Isn't that heavy? I would never be able to wear armor."  
"It's probably heavy for you mortals, but for demigods, it's not heavy at all"  
"Oh."  
** "Time?" I asked.  
He nodded grimly.  
** "Time for what?" Hayden asked.  
"If you let Mr Blofis read you'll get to know" I said not wanting to talk.  
**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning for it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.  
Rachel looked up at Beckendorf.  
"Hi."  
"Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me . . . uh, I mean he mentioned you."  
** "Nice save" someone said.  
**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."  
** "Like you could save the world. You can' even get a C in school" Hayden said. Some people murmured in agreement.  
"Class!" Paul said, making them shut up.  
** "Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.  
I looked at Rachel helplessly.  
"Would you tell my mom - "  
** "Little Percy can't go anywhere without telling his mommy" Hayden taunted. I glared at him.  
"At least I care about my mom" I said.  
** "I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."  
I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.  
** "You got that right" Paul said in a teasing voice.  
** "Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react. "Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."  
** "She kissed you!" Whitney shrieked. "I bet she's your girlfriend now!" she continued.  
"Actually, she's not. My girlfriend's name is Annabeth."  
"Like you could have a girlfriend" a jock teased.  
**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find out.  
**I got some arched eyebrows but ignored them.  
** "So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."  
** "Wait what, you cheated on her" Whitney almost shouted.  
"She wasn't my girlfriend back then" I murmured blushing.  
** "Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."  
**Some people sniggered.  
**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.  
It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon - a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white.  
** "A cruise chip?"  
"I will explain it in the book" I said. I the book were going to continue as it did right now they would probably get my point of view of the whole war.  
**From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord.  
** "What!" came the joint shout from the class.  
**Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead - a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.  
Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.  
** "It was heading to New York!."  
"Um... Yes."  
"An you almost died on it twice?."  
"Well, almost dieng comes with the job of being a demigod" I said. Some looked at me with a look of 'you're not serious' on their faces. I guess it was hard for them, teenagers that never risked their lifes to understand the life us demigods lived. We fighted monsters almost every day and there were very few demigods that lived to the twentieth birthday.  
** "You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.  
I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.  
** "Good idea" Alyssa said as if it were her who had made the idea up. Hannah and Olivia nodded.  
** "Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."  
Gotcha, boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.  
** "Who wouldn't?" someone piped up.  
**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.  
** "So, you saved him?" Mike asked.  
"Yes." I said thinking about how Blackjack would look with his mane braided and a small smile tugged my lips. Once Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes, had braided Blackjacks mane when he was asleep only to get a very mad horse running after them so they had to climb up in a tree. I had taken me at least a hour to calm Blackjack down, but he still is a little grouch every time they are around.  
** "Don't wait for us," I told him.  
But, boss -  
"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."  
**I looked down, thinking about Beckendorf. It was my fault he died. If I had done something different maybe both he and Silena would be alive today. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the depressing thoughts in my head.  
**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship - dracaenae snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines -  
** "There is a lot of monsters" someone said.  
"I know, trust me. It's getting irretating to kill them all the time" I said.  
"What, it's not like you have to kill every monster twice" Hayden said. I shook my head, I thought he would have heard of this by now.  
"Actually, I have to. Well, not really but it's the same theory. After the monsters die they are reformed in Tartarus. If you're lucky they don't reform in a few hundred years, but some monsters come back after only a few weeks." Hayden glared at me and I stared back.  
**but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.  
Good luck, boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!  
** "Gods, I hate when he call me boss" I murmured and I got a few wierd looks.  
**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size - three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.  
** "No way!" someone shouted.  
"That can't be true!" Hannah said.  
"That's so cool."  
"Can you show us!?" asked Mike, his hazel eyes glowing with exitment.  
I took out riptide and uncaped it. People gasped looking at the shining bronze blade which just a few seconds ago had been a pen.  
"Woah man, you had it all the time! Thats why you never wrote with it" Mike exclaimed. I nodded, I wasn't sure if I could write with Riptide and I didn't want to take any chanses with my sword as it had saved my life so many times. Also, it was a gift from my dad and those were very rare.  
**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light - the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.  
**The girls cooed and I looked down. I really hope they are happy in Elysium together as they barley had any time in the world of the living.  
**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.  
** "True love" Whitney sighted.  
"You sound like a daughter of Aphrodite" I said trying to hide the fact that the names made me sad. For the first time she smiled a real, genuine smile. She was probably proud of herself.  
** "We'll make it back to camp," I promised.  
**I sighted. I really had to stop making promises that I coulden't hold.  
**For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.  
"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."  
** "Like you could do that" Hayden said.  
"You'd be suprised if you knew what I can do" I answeared and he snorted. I ignored him. What he thought didn't matter to me, only my friends thoughts mattered.  
**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.  
** "What is it."  
"Just wait and see!"  
** "I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice - a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!"  
**The class laughed.  
"Monsters really are stupid" Ludvig, the swedish boy said his brown eyes filled with laughter. His swedish accent were really pronounced when he said the word really making it sound like he had said 'rielli'.  
** "Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"  
** "Is it monsters?" Alyssa asked.  
"Yes" I said suprised she hadn't realised that yet.  
** "Bah, your brain isn't on board!"  
**The class erupted in laughter again. The monsters could be funny when they didn't tried to kill you, though, it was pretty often they said hilarous things when they tried to kill tou too.  
**They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to fade.  
** "So it was telkhines?"  
"Yes, Pa... Mr Blofis just said that."  
**Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room."  
It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.  
** "Wow, that's cool!" Mike said.  
"The children of Hephaestus can do cool thing like that" I said, smiling.  
**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us.  
** "I didn't knew monsters actually could work, they don't seem to be so smart" Whitney said.  
"They always suprise us."  
**He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on .  
** "I'v never seen a telkhine" someone said.  
"Lucky you."  
**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.  
**It was a stunned silence.  
"Awesome dude" Mike suddenly said.  
"Thanks."  
** "One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go."  
** "No need to be so negative" Alyssa said.  
"You're talking to a book" Olivia said and the rest class sniggered. Alyssa glared at them, then turned her back towards Olivia.  
**He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid - Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world.  
** "Why would you get to handle it then?" Hayden asked.  
"I'm a demigod, I'm trained to do things like that."  
**Then he threw me another essential tool of demigod heroes - duct tape.  
** "Wait what?" Mike asked.  
"Duct tape can save lifes" I said.  
"No it can't!" Alyssa said.  
"And what would you know about that?" That shut her up.  
** "Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."  
We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.  
The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea.  
** "Lucky you."  
**Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 North, 71.90 West, making eighteen knots, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn.  
** "That's wicked man!" Mike said.  
"It can be pretty helpful sometimes."  
"If I had powers like that, I wish I was a demigod" my head snapped up.  
"No you don't" I said.  
"Why not?"  
"Well, most demigods don't live past 20. I'm one of the lucky ones."  
"Oh."  
**This would be our only chance to stop it.  
I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps - so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.  
** "Oh no."  
**I locked eyes with Beckendorf.  
"How much longer?"  
"Too long."  
** "This isn't good, right" someone asked. I looked down.  
"It's not good at all."  
**He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."  
Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.  
** "Oh shit, how are you going to make it?" Mike asked.  
"Just wait" I said quietly.  
"The life as a demigod aren't as good as I thought" someone said.  
"You're lucky you're not a demigod" I said.  
** "I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."  
** "Don't!" someone shouted. No one bothered to tell him that he was talking to a book.  
** "Percy - "  
** "Listen to him, Percy" the same Person said. I didn't look up to see who it was talking.  
** "Wish me luck."  
"**You'll need it, Jackson. You're not good enough." I glared at him.  
**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.  
"Good luck," he said.  
I charged out the door.  
** "This is going to be bloody" Alyssa said.  
"Yes, all battlesd are, aren't they?" I said.  
"I guess" she said.  
**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp.  
** "Wow."  
**I kept climbing - past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box.  
**Some people managed a half hearted laugh. The others just sat, wanting to hear more.  
**I left him alive - partly because his lunch box was cool, partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head toward the engine room.  
** "That's actually pretty smart, I didn't thought that about you Jackson" Hayden said and I looked at him suprised. The rest of the class aso looked at him stunned. He'd never said something good about me.  
"What?" he asked.  
"That was the first nice thing you ever have said about me." He shrugged so I gestured to Paul to keep reading.  
**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience).  
** "You have been inside of a dragon?" Whitney asked stunned.  
"Um... Yes, I'v been inside a dragon."  
"Okay..."  
**Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship.  
** "He did what?" someone shrieked, I think it was one of the cheerleaders.  
"Oh my God, how could he do that? And by the way, who's Luke?" I took a deep breath. I didn't want to talk about Luke.  
"Luke is a son of Hermes. He was mad because of how the gods treated us and decided to join Kronos" I said.  
"Oh."  
**Now I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.  
** "Oh my God, he killed them, didn't he?" Whitney asked in a shaky voice.  
"I guess he did" I said and looked down. Everyone took a deep breath, shaked at the thought.  
**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab.  
** "You mean an all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab?" Alyssa asked. I smirked and ignored her question.  
**I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab.  
** "Oh" she blushed and everyone laughed.  
**I'm talking giant like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body.  
** "Scary" Jessica said and shivered.  
**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them - and hate.  
** "The crab was intilligent, I could never guess" someone said.  
"Well, monster need a least a little brain to be able to kill demigods."  
**The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.  
** "Mr Crabby?" someone sniggered.  
"You got a better name for him?" I asked. No one answeared.  
** "Ffffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like a garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.  
** "Yuck!" all the girls plus some boys said.  
"Well, most monsters don't know what a toothbrush is" I said.  
"True."  
**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.  
"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so - "  
The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. 1 dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack of T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.  
** "Run, Percy, run!" some one said. I just rolled my eyes hearing the bad immitation of Jenny (from Forest Gump) and her 'Run, Forest, run!'.  
** "There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"  
** "Oh shit, they see you" Mike said.  
"Yes, they do."  
**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.  
** "I don't know how you do it, but you say the most funy and sarcastic things all the time, even when your life's in danger" Alyssa said.  
"Well, I was not named the Sarcasm King on camp for nothing" I said.  
"Camp?" Whitney asked.  
"Camp Half Blood, where all demigods train. Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes thought it was funny to name me the Sarcasm King."  
"Oh. It's pretty cool that there is a camp for demigods" Mike said.  
"Where is it" Hayden asked.  
"It's on Long Islang, and no" I said when Hayden began to say something. "You can't find it, there is magical borders that hide the camp, only demigods can find it."  
**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.  
** "That's not good."  
**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab - something about Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.  
** "No shit Sherlock" Hayden said.  
**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.  
** "I'm glad it helped you" Paul said and smiled at me.  
**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.  
** "Yeah, that's probably a problem."  
**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded.  
** "Woah."  
**Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming, "AHHHHHHH!"  
** "Not the best battle crie I heard, the heroes in the movies have a lot better battle cries" Hayden said.  
"Well, the heroes in the movies do not have better battle cries than my halfbrother!"  
"Another demigod son of Poseidon?" Alyssa asked.  
"No actually he's a cyclops. Hes name is Tyson."  
"Oh, what is his battle crie then?" she asked.  
"Peanut butter." That caused everyone to laugh.  
**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature.  
** "Nice man" Mike said.  
**It was like sliding under a seven-ton armored vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out the backside.  
** "That's cool" Whitney admired.  
**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.  
I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed.  
** "Smart to leave your sword behind, really smart" Hayden said in a sarcastic voice.  
"Just wait" I said smirking.  
**Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.  
** "No way, that can't be true!" Hayden said. I arched and eyebrow, took out riptide from my pocket and laid it on Paul's desk.  
**In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were women with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs.  
** "Oh, not so good looking then" joked Mike.  
"You can't say that."  
**They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.  
** "I'm starting to dislike this" muttered Paul.  
** "What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss!"  
I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship.  
** "Nice move!"  
**I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.  
"Get him!" she screamed.  
** "They like to scream, don't they?" Whitney asked. I just arched and eybrow and she looked down blushing.  
**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.  
I didn't care - as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.  
** "Good idea, give him more time. That's all you need" someone muttered. I looked down. I'd almost forgot about Beckendorf and now the sadness came back.  
**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry.  
** "Poor thing, manipualted buý Luke" Alyssa said.  
"Many demigods, most unclaimed kids were on Kronos side" I said.  
**He couldn't have been more than twelve - about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.  
** "And so small!"  
**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed - trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.  
** "This is horrible!" Alyssa said. Many of my classmates had tears in their eyes.  
**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.  
Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.  
** "What did you do?" Whitney asked.  
"It's not something bad!" I defended myself.  
** "If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.  
** "Oh my God, that was so nice, Percy" Whitney said. I smiled at her.  
"Thanks."  
**I kept climbing.  
Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.  
** "So you were 13 the first time you were there" someone noted. I nodded.  
"Yes, it was when we were going to get the golden fleece."  
"You have the real golen fleece" Alyssa gasped. I nodded.  
**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.  
** "This dosn't seem good" someone said.  
**All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad - our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away.  
** "Do it" Mike said.  
**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze.  
"You're late, Percy."  
** "And ofcourse, here's the person who destroy our plan" I muttered.  
"Who is it?" Hayden asked.  
"Can't you guess?"  
"Luke" Alyssa said. I nodded and everyone gasped.  
"Not good" A jock said.  
**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.  
** "What does it mean?" Whitney asked.  
"Nothing good" I answeard.  
** "We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful - the voice of the Titan lord Kronos.  
**Everyone paled.  
"Definetly not good" Alyssa murmured.  
**The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade.  
"Come, bow before me."  
"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.  
**Everyone was pale as death.  
"Don't Percy, this will not end good" someone murmured.  
**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.  
** "So they knew" Alyssa sighted.  
"It seem so" I said.  
"But all the monsters, how did you make it?" I sighted, nnot wanting to talk.  
"You'll see."  
**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.  
A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?  
** "No, Percy" Paul groaned. His hands were shaking and he had problems holding the book still.  
"I'm still here" I remided him.  
**According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen.  
** "What prophecy?" Alyssa asked.  
"It will be more about it later" I said.  
**That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.  
** "You have fought gods before? Hayden asked.  
"Um... Yes, I defeated Ares when I was 12." The whole classed was stunned and Paul continued reading.  
**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I had to remember that.  
** "Remember that Percy, it sounds like a good idea" Paul muttered.  
** "Come forward," he said. "If you dare."  
The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.  
**I smirked and made a gesture towards Paul's desk.  
"Look after it!" Everyone tried to find it, but ofcouse they didn't.  
"Sorry Percy, it's not there" Alyssa said. I smiled.  
"I know, I have it" I said and took out riptide. Everyone gasped.  
"Continue reading Paul."  
**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands - a six-foot-long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.  
** "Oh no" Whitney groaned.  
**Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because Kronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.  
**Everyone gasped.  
"How are you alive?!"  
**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me - the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.  
** "Not good, not good" Mike chanted.  
**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with laughter.  
Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day now would be good.  
**"Talking to the ocean now, now you're crazy for real" Hayden taunted. I glared at him.  
**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.  
** "Wow" everyone gasped.  
**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face - Luke's face - a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.  
** "Ofcourse you make a mistake, Jackson" Hayden said.  
"Shut up!" I said and he did.  
**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet.  
** "This is scary" someone shrieked.  
**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.  
** "Ouch!"  
**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain.  
** "It's the scythe, one touch and it will sever the soul from the body. I read it in some mythology book" Alyssa said.  
**I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.  
** "This is really, really bad" Paul said. His face was almost as pale as Nico's. Which meant it was very pale.  
"I'm still here" I remided him again. He gave me a half hearted smile.  
**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.  
** "How? Alyssa asked.  
"You'll see" I said.  
**Kronos laughed.  
"A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."  
**People was grasping their desks hard, making their knuckels go white, staring at me.  
**My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time.  
"Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head."  
"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."  
** "You wont make it. The good side will win" Mike said to no one. It made everyone calmer,to hear someone say those words, even if it sounded like it would be a quote from some wierd fantasy book.  
** "You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.  
** "No you wont" someone said.  
** "And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face - Luke's face - seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"  
** "No" someone groanded.  
**He looked down at the pool and called,  
"Nakamura!"  
A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.  
** "So he betrayed you" Alyssa asked.  
"I guess" I said, not wanting to give them spoilers for the rest of the book.  
** "Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."  
He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.  
**I had tears in my eyes. Beckendorf had dies and it was my fault. I glanced around the room. Some people also had tears in their eyes. People seemed to understand that I didnt wanted questions.  
** "No!" I yelled.  
Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.  
** "Oh my" someone said.  
** "We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"  
**The class was pale, everyone grasping things hard.  
** "Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"  
"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."  
** "He can't been going to the engine room" Alyssa said.  
** "How do you know that?"  
"Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."  
**Alyssa's eyes grew and she looked at me. She's figured something out.  
**Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.  
** "God! It have to work!" Whitney exclaimed. I glanced at her. She was holding her chair tight and it were tears in her eyes.  
**Kronos hesitated.  
** "Please!" Whitney begged.  
**Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.  
"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.  
**Everyone was breathing shakily, scared of what was going to happen.  
**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.  
** "He's smart" Alyssa noted.  
**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.  
"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"  
Ethan turned pale.  
"Um - "  
"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"  
** "That is really scary" a cheerleader whined and grasped her boyfriends shirt for comfort.  
**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.  
** "Whimp" Hayden said.  
**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: How long?  
** "Please!"  
**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero. There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.  
**Everyone knew, this wouldn't end good. Everyone looked at me. The tears almost ran over.  
**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile.  
"You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."  
**"Ofcourse he knew" Mike cursed silent.  
**He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm - the Titan lord's symbol.  
The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered,  
"Communication device . . . spy at camp."  
** "No!" Alyssa said.  
"Yes, there were a spy at camp" I said quietly. Everyone gasped.  
**Kronos chuckled.  
"You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."  
I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.  
**Tears were roling down my cheeks now, and no one dared to ask a queation.  
**Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go.  
** "No" Alyssa whispered, understanding what was about to happen.  
**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.  
The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly - toward the watch on his right wrist.  
**People gasped.  
**I wanted to scream, NO!  
Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"  
** "No!" Mike said his voice filled with emotions.  
**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.  
I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship - toward the water a hundred feet below.  
**People were crying, knowing Beckendorf didn't have a chance to survive this.  
**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away - a hundred yards, two hundred yards.  
Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.  
**The classroom was silent, the only noice to be heard was the noice of sobs and shaky breaths.  
**Beckendorf, I thought.  
Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.  
** "Class dismissed" Paul said, his voice thick with emotion and I rushed out of the room so no one would be able to ask me any questions about Bekedorf and 'the spy'. I ran through the school as fast as I could only wanting to go home, and this to be over.

_**Edited 23/7 2014**_


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